Tainted
by Kyra Renee
Summary: The Circles have fallen in rebellion and Orlais has launched into civil war. A village sits along the Ferelden border and a desperate call for help sends Jacqueline and Fyrion to Denerim in serach of aid from the king. But she has her own reasons for making the journey. The secret she has kept hidden for years from those closest to her will unleash a whole new wave of chaos.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was beginning to dip down behind the rolling hills that stretched off into the distance. Everything was cast in a soft pink glow and she watched the shadows creep across the roofs of the houses below her. The voices in the street were beginning to fade as mothers called their children in for supper and the vendors began packing away their wares. The atmosphere in the market square was soothing and she let out a small sigh of content as she remained nestled on her small patch of grass.

The faintest of smiles formed on her lips as the breeze dipped down to caress the exposed skin of her arms and neck and she turned her face towards the sky. She would be perfectly content to live out the rest of her days in such a state of tranquility, but she knew that was not to be the case. Even her small village had its problems and she often found herself at the heart at them all.

Approaching footsteps caught her attention and she lowered her head and turned her head ever so slightly. Two small hands placed themselves on her shoulders and her smile widened as a little chin rested itself on her right shoulder as violent bright blue eyes squinted to see what the woman had seen.

A taller shadow cast itself over the two and the woman twisted her body around, taking the child in her arms and pulling her into her lap. Soft brown curls bounced as she settled herself in place, wrapping her arms around the woman's neck and nestling her head beneath her chin.

"The council has called a meeting," The shadow figure spoke, his voice was a deep rumble and he looked over the two with a fond smile.

"As I had suspected they would. I saw several of them gathering earlier," The woman pushed a sigh out from between her lips and glanced down at the little girl in her lap. "And what trouble have you been causing?" She asked curiously.

"None!" The little girl squeaked, pulling back slightly to look up at the woman. "Fyrion took me to see the cows," She nodded. "I got to feed the baby."

"Did you?" The woman raised an eyebrow and lifted the girl from her lap and forced her to stand as she pulled herself to her feet. She brushed the dirt and grass from her pale blue skirt and pushed her rolled sleeves up even further towards her elbows. The little girl nodded happily.

"How nice of him to do that. I'm sure the cows were very exciting," She glanced at the man with a thin smirk and chuckled under her breath at his sour stare.

"They don't do much," The little girl added observantly. "And they smell bad."

"Fyrion's brother is a cow," The woman said, her sarcasm lost on the child as Fyrion gave a loud snort. "That's where he gets the smell from," She added in a mock whisper.

The girl looked at Fyrion with wide eyes and wrinkled her nose before giggling and taking the woman's hand as they began to walk.

"Funny," Fyrion muttered with a roll of his eyes. The woman said nothing as she flashed him a smile and began the descent back down to the small village.

They walked in silence, admiring the glow of the setting sun and the cool evening air. Occasionally the woman's mind would wander to the meeting that was soon to take place although she could already guess the subject. Word had arrived only days before of yet another fallen Circle and the civil war being waged in Orlais. Ferelden's Circle was barely in one piece and already Kirkwall and Orlais had lost control over theirs. A matter for the templars and the chantry, of course. The concern, however, were the rebellions and the wars that were following in the wake of these disasters. It wouldn't be long before Ferelden would be defending its own borders. More troubling still was the news that the king was doing nothing to see to the protection of his people.

"Time to go see Oma," The woman said finally as they reached the far side of the village. She stopped just outside of a small house and the girl looked up at her with a small frown. "I'll come for you as soon as we're finished."

"Why can't I go with you?" the child shifted her weight from one foot to the other and frowned up at the two.

"Someday, mutt," Fyrion said quickly, reaching down to ruffle her hair. She scowled and stepped away from him, releasing the woman's hand and smoothing down her hair.

"Be good," The woman called as she turned on her heel and stomped the short distance to the house. She wrapped her small fingers around the doorknob and threw the door open only to close it loudly behind her. The whole house seemed to shudder and the woman shook her head with a small sigh.

"She gets to be more and more like her father every day," She mused as she turned on her heel and began the short walk back to the market square.

"He must've been a stubborn man to put up with you," Fyrion commented with a small smirk. She cast a sideways glance at him.

"He had no idea what he was getting himself into," She informed him. "So do you know what the elders plan to do? Last meeting they considered writing to the king. That'll do us no good. Words are pretty but if we want something done we're going to have to force them to do it."

"By doing what? Riding to Denerim and waving our weapons in their faces? We've got a small militia here, nothing to hold off an army. We would be slaughtered like animals. We're going to have to relocate. It's that simple. We can't stay so close to the border if they're over there waging war on one another. How long until it spills over into Ferelden?"

"You can't ask these people to leave their homes behind. We've done enough running during the Blight—"

"They'll do what they have to in order to survive," Fyrion stopped just outside the door to the tavern and fixed her with a hard stare. She would imagine that a weaker person would have crumbled beneath his heavy gaze, but she held fast and met him with her own steely glare. She often found his hardened jaw and the spots of gray in his beard and hair attractive and could not deny that he was a handsome man. Years as a solider had hardened him. He was well respected in the village and even though she trusted him with more than just her life, she would not be intimidated by him.

"We shall see," She said finally as she stepped around him and opened the door.

The patrons had been cleared out and tables had been pushed together in the center of the room. The members of the village council sat gathered around them. Most of the council were the village elders, though some had relinquished their seats to their children. She was the only woman present besides the bar maid that hovered anxiously by the counter.

Fyrion remained standing and folded his arms across his chest as she took a seat near the door. They both remained silent as the remaining members settled in and took their seats. A short and stout man at the center of the table stood up and cleared his throat. He rested his hands on his round belly and his eyes swept over the faces in the room. He scratched thoughtfully at his shaggy beard and nodded as though finally deciding on something.

"My friends, thank you all for coming on such short notice," He began. "As you know we received some troubling news from a passing merchant the other day. The rebellions in Kirkwall have spread to Orlais. Orlais is threatening civil war and—"

"And our king is doing nothing!" Another man shouted from his seat, slamming his fist down on the table. "We sit too close to Orlais to let this go. I will not stand to see-"

"No one knows for sure if the king is ignoring this or not," A younger man added, leaning back in his seat. "Perhaps he's gathering forces as we speak."

"He isn't even in Denerim," The man that had shouted said flatly. "He's been traveling across Ferelden on Grey Warden business. Putting a Grey Warden on the throne was the worst mistake we could've made. The people of Ferelden don't matter."

"That Grey Warden saved your life," The younger man said with a frown. "You lose faith too easily, good man."

"And you trust too quickly," The man said with a shake of his head. "We need to decide what to do and we need to decide now."

The elder in the center of the room cleared his throat again. "We had been discussing a letter for His Majesty to—"

"He isn't going to read some damned letter!" The man shouted again, this time getting to his feet. "We need to take action."

The young woman glanced at Fyrion with a raised eyebrow and he frowned, shaking his head.

"We need to ride to Denerim and demand aid and protection. Even a handful of men—"

"A handful of men against an army?" Fyrion spoke out and all eyes fell on him. He uncrossed his arms and took a step forward. "We have a handful of men now that can barely lift a sword let alone fight against an army. A handful of the king's men will do nothing to help us. If you want to do something, then we need to move. There's no way to protect ourselves here. Orzammar is to the south, the Free Marches are to the north and Orlais is to the west. We need to move further east."

"You're proposing that we just…leave? Have you lost your mind, man?" The loud man asked, shaking his head. "We have been here since before the Blight and we survived that. We can survive anything if we just have the manpower."

"Aye! I say we ride to Denerim," Another man said, slapping the table as two other men murmured in agreement.

Three more men shook their heads but said nothing and the room fell into an awkward silence. The man in the center of the room shifted his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other and cleared his throat again nervously. "But who will we get to go?" He seemed relieved to have been able to finish an entire sentence and looked around at his fellows anxiously.

The young woman felt herself rise out of her seat slowly and take two steps forward. "I will," She said quietly. Her voice echoed in the silence as they all turned to look at her, some not even realizing that she had been in the room. "I will ride to Denerim and demand protection for our village."

"But…" Fyrion took a hesitant step forward and she shook her head at him. "Jacqueline…"

"I know the way and I will demand an audience with the king himself."

One of the men laughed. "You think he will grant you an audience?"

She felt a smile tug at her lips and she nodded. "I'm certain of it." There was silence once more as they seemed to consider this. They exchanged looks with one another, but no one objected.

"Then I'll go too," Fyrion said finally. She shot him a glance but said nothing.

The elder with the white beard nodded and scratched at his beard again. "Then…I suppose it's decided…you will leave tomorrow. May the Maker guide you and Andraste bless you," He muttered with a shake f his head. There was a small pause before the tavern erupted into chatter and Jacqueline eyed each one of the men carefully before turning and slipping through the door, Fyrion hot on her heels.

"Why would you volunteer for something like that?" He snapped, matching his stride to hers as she crossed the square.

"It is a trip long overdue," She said simply. "I have my reasons for going."

"Do you? Does it have anything to do with this mysterious man you speak about on rare occasions?" She stopped walking and turned to face him.

"I don't see how that's any of your concern," Jacqueline hissed in a low voice.

"I volunteered to go with you. So therefore I'm making it my concern. These people need you so you can't go off on some personal quest just because it happens to be convenient timing for you. If anything happens to this place I swear on the Maker—"

"Do you think me that stupid, Fyrion?" Her eyes flashed and she stepped closer to him. "These people took me in when I had no one else left in the world. They cared for me and made me one of them. Do you really think I would let _anything_ happen to them?"

He was silent for a moment and she was readying herself for a sharp comeback when his shoulders slumped forward and he sighed in defeat. "Jacqueline, I'm…I'm sorry. I just… this whole thing has me on edge. What are you going to do about Freya?"

"I have to bring her with me," There was no hesitation with her response and he shook his head, raising a hand to rub at his forehead.

"You're going to take her all the way across Ferelden to Denerim with you?" He asked.

"I will not leave my daughter behind if neither you nor I will be here to protect her. She comes with us and that's final. If something happened to her while we were gone… Fyrion, I would have nothing left to live for," The idea of losing Freya made her heart ache and she pushed the thought from her mind.

"I just hope you know what you're doing, Jacqueline," He said. "We leave first thing in the morning. I will see you then. Get some sleep, we're going to need it," He made to reach for her, but seemed to think twice and let his hand fall short of her arm. With a small grunt he turned and crossed the square, disappearing into the shadows.

She stood there for a moment watching after him before she turned on her heel and made her way back to the house to collect her daughter. Freya peppered her with questions long after she had been tucked into bed and eventually Jacqueline forbid her from speaking and wished her a good night. She lay staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours, unsure of whether or not agreeing to go to Denerim was even the right choice. Perhaps it would be a waste of time on all accounts. But there was really only one way to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

She was up long before the sun with her pack stuffed full of necessary items. She had had to patch several small holes in the worn traveling bag and she supposed it would have made more sense to purchase a new one, but this one held a sort of sentimental value. It had survived the Blight and so she was sure it could survive one more trip to Denerim and back.

There was a soft knock on the door before it opened slowly, the cool morning air swept through the small home and Jacqueline drew her cloak around her shoulders tightly. Fyrion stood in the doorway and his gaze swept over her. Even from where she stood she could see the purple circles forming under his eyes, an obvious sign that he had gotten little to no sleep the night before.

"Are you ready?" He stepped inside and let his own bag slide from his shoulder and onto the floor as he closed the door behind him with his foot. "The horses are waiting just outside."

Jacqueline nodded and glanced over at her slumbering daughter. She lifted the small cloak from the back of a chair and crossed the room, kneeling beside the small bed. She reached out a hand to brush some hair from the little girl's face and she smiled as her blue eyes fluttered open. "Time for us to go, Freya," She said softly. She held out the cloak and Freya sat up with a small frown, rubbing at her eyes as she let her mother fasten it around her shoulders.

Without a word she flopped forward and rested her head on Jacqueline's shoulder as her small arms fell loosely around the woman's neck. Jacqueline pulled her close and stood, adjusting her as she lifted Freya's hood and turned to face Fyrion. He stood with his arms crossed, watching them with a raised eyebrow. She glanced down at her overstuffed bag on the floor and then back up at him.

"Could you…?" She trailed off and he nodded as she moved past him and towards the door. The morning air nearly chilled her to the bone and she shuddered as she crossed over to where a grizzled man stood beside two horses. He inclined his head in greeting but said nothing as he stepped aside and made room for them.

Fyrion fastened their bags to the sides of the saddles and did a final once over on each of the mounts before he stopped beside Jacqueline and held his arms out. She bit back a smile as she passed over a sleeping Freya and hoisted herself into the cold saddle. He passed the little girl back up to her and she situated her on the saddle in front of her, locking an arm around her securely as he swung himself onto his own horse.

"My ass is going to be raw," He muttered, his breath forming a cloud of steam in the air. Jacqueline chuckled and shook her head.

"We could be walking all the way to Denerim," She reminded him as she thanked the old man and nudged her horse forward. "We stay off of the main roads and away from busy areas. I would rather avoid the inns if at all possible."

"All of this and who knows if it'll work," She heard him sigh from somewhere behind her and she glanced around at the open fields as they passed.

"It will work. There's no other option," Jacqueline said quietly. They fell into silence, Freya waking on occasion to ask a few groggy questions before slipping off to sleep again. The weather hardly improved as grey clouds hung in the air, threatening rain at any moment. The first day was an uneventful one and Jacqueline was glad when it was time to stop and make camp.

The small fire crackled and smoke drifted lazily into the evening air as they sat huddled together. Freya leaned against Fyrion, nibbling on her slice of bread as Jacqueline stared blankly into the flames.

"Reminiscing?" Fyrion's voice startled her and she turned her head to look at him quickly. She blinked before a sad smile formed on her lips and she looked back at the fire.

"I guess you could call it that. I thought that once I settled down that I would never have to leave again. That everything would be…normal. But here I am again, my home being threatened once more," She picked up a stick and drew a circle in the dirt. "I did not miss sleeping on the ground," She added.

Fyrion laughed and shifted Freya into his lap. "Did you fight in the Blight too, Fyrion?" Freya asked, turning her head to look up at the man.

"I did," He said, nodding his head. "I was a soldier in the King's army."

"Did you kill darkspawn?"

"Lots of them."

"What are darkspawn like? Will I ever get to see one?" She wiggled around in his lap so she could sit up and press her small hands against his chest, bringing herself to eye level with him.

"I certainly hope not, mutt. You don't want to ever see one of those things. They smell bad and they're ugly. Some have horns coming out of their heads and pointy teeth. Some are tall and scaly looking while others are short and hunched over and move like goblins," He said. "They shriek and they screech and you don't know what they're saying, but they seem to understand each other. If you ever see a darkspawn you need to stay quiet and hide and they'll never find you. They aren't very smart."

Freya's eyes widened even more. "I saw a picture once!" She told him proudly. "Oma had this book that she said she found on the road somewhere and someone had drawn a picture of a darkspawn in it. I didn't think it looked scary, just kind of funny," She shrugged and lifted a hand to touch Fyrion's beard. "What's Denerim like?"

Jacqueline glanced at Fyrion and scooted closer. "Denerim is the largest city in Ferelden. It's where the king lives. There are lots of shops and buildings and their marketplace is much bigger than the one we have at home. There are all kinds of people there too. There are lots of elves and even some dwarves. They come from all over to work and trade."

She seemed to consider this for a moment as she placed her hands on Fyrion's cheeks and pressed on them, smashing them inward. Freya giggled at the funny face he was making and she did it three more times before giving up and sitting back in his lap again. "What's the king like? Is he nice?"

"He's…"

"We don't know. We've never met him," Fyrion said, shrugging his shoulders. "But they say he's a nice man and that he cares about all of his people."

"Is there a queen too?"

"No, there's no queen."

Freya frowned. "Why not? I could be queen," She crossed her arms across her chest and looked between the two of them.

"And you would make a fine queen," Jacqueline said with a laugh. "But it is time for bed, Your Majesty. We are getting back on the road first thing in the morning."

Freya's frowned deepened, but she crawled out of Fyrion's lap and marched over to her makeshift bed without a single objection. She plopped herself down and Jacqueline leaned over to wrap the blankets around her and she placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams."

She watched her daughter for a moment before leaning away and standing. She brushed the dirt from her clothes and pressed her lips into a thin line as she felt Fyrion's heavy eyes on her. "Get some sleep. I'll keep watch tonight," She said quickly before he could speak. Without a glance in his direction she hurried over to grab the bow and the quiver of arrows from where they rested against a stump near the horses and found herself a place to settle in for the night. She had a clear view of their tiny camp and she pulled her cloak around herself.

Jacqueline frowned into the darkness and shook her head as if to shake her thoughts away. "There is no queen," She whispered into the night. "But there could have been."


End file.
